Man Held on Suspicion Of Killing Infant Son

Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published
4:00 am PST, Wednesday, March 4, 1998

1998-03-04 04:00:00 PDT ANTIOCH -- A security guard who allegedly caused fatal injuries to his 7-week- old son by throwing him because he would not stop crying has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Victor Daniel Korbut, 30, was arrested Monday at his home on Sycamore Drive in Antioch and booked on murder and child abuse charges. He is being held in County Jail in Martinez on $2 million bail.

Korbut, who worked as a security guard at Oakland's federal building, confessed to throwing his son, Justin, on February 24, the day paramedics found the child at his parents' home not breathing, according to police.

"He said he was holding the child in front of his chest and basically was just throwing him away," said Antioch police Detective Leonard Orman, who interviewed Korbut on Monday. "From what we understand, the child flipped in the air and landed on the crown of his head. He said he did this because the kid wouldn't stop crying."

Korbut was home alone that day with his son and placed the child back in his crib after throwing him. When his wife, who also works as a security guard, returned home, she asked him to retrieve Justin for feeding. Korbut found his son pale, limp and unresponsive in the crib.

Korbut also admitted to prior abuse of the child, including throwing the infant against the back of a couch two weeks earlier, police said. Justin died of blunt force injuries that caused hemorrhages and bruises in his brain. Coroners also noted that some brain cells had been destroyed by previous injuries.

Korbut's wife is not considered a suspect, Orman said.

"We determined that (Korbut) was the only one with the child at the time of the injuries," Orman added.

Police didn't arrest Korbut until this week because they needed to wait for medical tests and other information before they had enough evidence pointing to child abuse.

"The child had recently had the flu, so there was one possible explanation for the death," Orman said.

Neither Korbut nor his wife has a criminal record, and there were no reported incidents of abuse before Justin, their only child, died, police said.

Orman said Korbut was "very calm" throughout the interrogation.

"He was cooperative, although he didn't tell the truth all the time," the detective said.